Metal Strike Ends in South Africa with Exemplary 3-Year Contract

The two-week strike by 120,000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers’ of South Africa (NUMSA) ended over the weekend when union members accepted a three-year contract from the Steel and Engineering Federation of South Africa (SEIFSA), the main metal employers’ federation in South Africa.

NUMSA members will receive a first-year pay rise of 10% effective 1 July 2011. In the second and third years, metalworkers will receive no less than 8% in each year. If the consumer price index (CPI) is less than that percentage, the 8% increases will take hold; if it exceeds 8%, workers will receive 2% above the CPI.

“We ran a successful action,” NUMSA General Secretary Irvin Jim said of the strike that began 4 July. “We applied excellent pressure, workers were firm in their determination, and the timing for settling was good before the country’s economy was bruised.”

Jim said another fundamental issue resolved concerned labour brokers. Contract language was improved whereby labour brokers are allowed to deploy workers for only a four-month period. If a labour broker is retained for more than that period that broker’s workers will win full-time, permanent positions with the primary employer inclusive of all social benefits. Workers will begin returning to jobs today and tomorrow, 19 July.

Meanwhile, talks between the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union (CEPPWAWU) and several employers’ federations resume today. Some 70,000 CEPPWAWU members have been striking since 11 July against scores of employers in the petroleum, pharmaceutical, glass, plastics, industrial chemicals, fast-moving consumer goods, and pulp, paper, and wood products sectors.

By far the biggest impact of those strikes has been in petroleum distribution businesses. The CEPPWAWU strike there has created panic buying and fuel shortages, with the seven members of the South African Petroleum Industry Association unable to move supplies to market from the country’s 130 fuel depots.

CEPPWAWU’s strikes were joined last week across several sectors by 14,000 members of the South African Chemical Workers’ Union (SACWU) and 10,000 members of the General Industrial Workers’ Union of South Africa (GIWUSA).

The unions are seeking wage increases ranging from 11% to 13%, while respective industries are offering only 6.5% to 7%. ICEM-affiliated CEPPWAWU seeks a complete ban on labour brokers, a minimum month wage of R6,000 (€615), six months paid maternity leave, and a 40-hour work-week.

The strike, specifically in regard to fuel shortages and transport, is expected to be exacerbated starting today with the start of the third trimester of school in South Africa. Some of the companies affected are petrol giants BP Southern Africa, Chevron SA, Engen Petroleum, PetroSA, Shell SA, and Total SA; pharmaceutical companies Adcock Ingram, Aspen Pharmaceutical, and Pharmacare; consumer companies Revlon and Colgate; the industrial chemicals company Sasol, as well as Nampak Glass and paper companies Sappi and Mondi.

South African strikes were amplified this winter by a PricewaterhouseCoopers’ report showing that executive pay trends of the 40 top-listed companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange saw median pay increases of 23.3%, while executive bonuses rose 56%.